Workplace
The Workplace is a continually evolving environment. Over time, we've seen shifts from private offices to cubicles to open floor plans and back again.
Today, offices are becoming dynamic, hybrid places which blur boundaries between a corporate and residential feel, and designing for it effectively requires deep listening, investigation and engagement.
Below are a few projects which touch on these issues, and how we approached them.
In the modern professional environment, we are demanding more of our workplaces. They are becoming less about single function and more like hybrid multi-purpose spaces where different uses come together.
At Ensemble / Mosaic’s new Navy Yard offices, the TI requirement for a single space to serve as a Marketing & Sales Center, a place to entertain and serve the needs of a traditional private office environment, meant creating flexible open spaces that overlap and intermingle.
The workspace at Leadnomics was designed to accommodate the extraordinary current and future growth of this tech company.
The concept focused on creating designed moments within the large open field, such that they could continually be implemented across additional square footage as they continued to expand into adjacent spaces. Wood ceilings, signage and angular glass meeting pods were designed to reflect the company’s youthful energy and dynamic corporate approach.
At Larsen MacColl, the client asked for an adaptive reuse core & shell restoration to their whole building and site, as well as a TI fit out of their main floor. They wanted a workspace that reflected their business values of high-tech, modern investment thinking and transparency; something that could attract new talent to their workforce, but also reflect their fresh, open approach to engaging their clients & partners.
The design concept wrapped the service core in white oak, creating passages through the workspaces in various colors, materials, and lighting effects.
Moto’s solution to clad the service core in wood, set the solid, heavier element in contrast to the perimeter, which became a space that felt open and filled with light. Glass lined offices show that all levels of staff are accessible while maintaining needs for privacy and focus.
A custom milled Corian wall with the corporate logo, cabinetry, cubicles, desks and conference tables, were all designed and fabricated by Moto. These elements bring warm touches of the handmade to the space, furthering the feeling of a workplace that is more welcoming and comfortable.
Transforming a former restaurant into a flexible, open design studio for U.Penn’s Urban Design program was not without its technical challenges.
The seemingly simple project quickly found a multitude of complex issues in the removal and reconfiguration of significant utility infrastructure left behind by the former restaurant tenant. Demolition revealed unknown conditions which required real-time thinking and problem solving to relocate piping, drain systems and utilities while not disrupting services of adjacent spaces.
In the end, new concrete floor slabs, restored glazing and lighting modernized the space with a durable industrial aesthetic, providing open flexible space for the design classroom.
When clients are evaluating potential spaces for future occupancy, programming studies for TI-Fitout is a critical step for a tenants ability to understand their fit-out costs and negotiate fair lease terms with potential landlords.
Moto has provided programming studies, blocking plans, precedent concepts, and basis-of-design writeups for numerous tenants. This example for PHMC, was a study of a 23,000sf space in Kensington for one of their Community Umbrella Agencies.
